Image via WikipediaThis is a pretty good read if you haven't seen it yet. It's also time that some one stood up to the NCAA. They are an out of control organization. Sean Gregory; Time --- The uniform of the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey
For years, college and pro sports teams have taken heat for caricaturing Native Americans with their nicknames and mascots. Sometimes, teams do the right thing. In 1994, for example, St. John's University changed its name from the Redmen to the Red Storm. At other times, they've acted irresponsibly. We still have the Washington Redskins, and the Cleveland Indians haven't scrubbed Chief Wahoo — a cartoonish representation of Native Americans — off their hats. And in other instances, a tribe's backing has allowed a team to keep its nickname, as happened with the Florida State Seminoles and Utah Utes.
And then there's the puzzling, quite unique case of North Dakota. In 1930, the University of North Dakota (UND) adopted "Sioux" as its nickname for its sports teams. UND became the "Fighting Sioux" in the 1960s. The Sioux reservation closest to the University of North Dakota's campus in Grand Forks, Spirit Lake, overwhelmingly backs the name. The tribe argues, and evidence seems to support the case, that Spirit Lake and another local Sioux reservation, Standing Rock, actually gave the UND its blessing to use the nickname in a religious ceremony over 40 years ago. [Time.com]
The NCAA is out of touch... I wish this action would have happened a couple of years ago. Think of the irony of this, the NCAA is being sued in federal court by the very Native Americans they are claiming to speak for but also help. Does anyone see how silly this really is? The NCAA is being sued by a bunch of white people they are being sued by one of the Tribes that voted to allow UND to use the name.
